whipped off her apron with the other, and tied the girl’s wrists together with the strings.
“You can’t do this to me,” the girl screamed.
“I just did.” Jayden’s heart raced and her breath came out in short gasps.
Lauren struggled against the restraints and screamed. “My daddy will sue this place.”
“Bring it on, sweetheart,” Jayden said. “I’m going to take you outside now. You got any last words for your teammates?”
“Go to hell, the whole bunch of you,” Lauren said.
Henry’s hands knotted into fists and he took a step away from Mary. She reached out and got his arm. “I’m all right, darlin’. Let it go. I just wish we could have helped her.”
“Some people can’t be helped.” Henry hugged Mary tightly. “She’s not the first one to be sent away, and she won’t be the last.”
Jayden felt like a police officer as she grabbed Lauren’s collar with one hand and the makeshift handcuffs with the other. She and Novalene together took Lauren outside, but the girl fought them every step of the way.
Elijah pulled the van up and parked it. Jayden and Novalene got Lauren into the back seat, but it was no easy feat. She tried to fall down on the ground, then braced a leg on each side of the van door and used every cuss word in her vocabulary. Jayden finally got the girl into the back seat and was fastening her seat belt when Lauren slammed her head against Jayden’s. Everything went dark for a second, and Jayden felt the earth coming up to meet her—then strong arms bore her up. She shook off the dizziness and looked up into Elijah’s eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” Jayden answered. “I don’t think I’m hurt. More shocked than anything. Should I ride along in the back seat with her? You have to drive, and Novalene might need my help corralling her.”
“No, you need to get some ice on that eye and your forehead,” Elijah answered. “When I get back, we’ll take you into the emergency room and have you checked out.”
“That’s not necessary.” Jayden took a step back. “I’ve had this bad and worse from my students at the school where I teach, but you could order a couple of sets of handcuffs in case this ever happens again.”
Tiffany seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Take those strings off her and give me five minutes of her time. I’ll show her that she can’t treat people like that.”
“You just see to it that Jayden gets some ice on her eye,” Elijah said as he got behind the wheel and closed the door.
“Yes, sir,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany threw an arm around Jayden’s shoulders and led her inside the dining hall. Somehow the mess had been cleaned up, and the rest of the girls had continued eating breakfast. The difference was in the buzz of conversation in the room. Where things had gone quiet as a tomb when the siren blew, it now sounded like a beehive.
Tiffany went to the kitchen, got a bag of frozen peas from the refrigerator, and handed it to Jayden. Jayden held the peas against her eye and crossed the room to sit with the adults. Her heart had settled down to a slow, steady beat, but the pain in her eye and head would take a while to disappear. It wasn’t her first black eye, and she’d had a minor concussion before, so she knew this wasn’t one of those, but it still hurt like hell.
Mary leaned across Elijah’s empty chair and laid a hand on her arm. “Are you all right? Did they get her into the van without too much trouble?”
“I’m fine and she’s on her way to Alpine,” Jayden answered with a reassuring smile. “And this casserole is good enough to eat cold. I earned two of those cinnamon rolls after this. Are you and Henry all right?”
“We’re fine, but I got to admit that’s the first time I’ve had a girl hit me,” Mary said.
“Hopefully, it will be the last,” Henry added.
“While you were outside—” Diana began, but then drew in a short breath. “Good Lord, girl, your hands are shaking. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Just a little shook up.” Jayden made a conscious effort to still her nerves. “What happened when I was outside?”
“Rita told me that Lauren said she wasn’t going to stay here no matter what she had to do. She was so mad when she stepped in horse crap this morning on their walk that she